FREMONT — The Rodriguez High boys basketball team is big, fast, athletic and strong. The Mustangs start three players taller than 6-foot-4 and a point guard that is as quick as anyone in this area.

None of that mattered to Washington, which played Rodriguez in the first round of the Tim Cole Memorial Tournament at American High on Thursday.

The Huskies matched everything Rodriguez threw at them. The Huskies hung around long enough to give themselves a chance to win it in the end.

And when Rachhmider Singh nailed two free throws with three seconds left, that clinched a 41-39 win for the Huskies.

“This is a big win for us,” Washington coach Mike Tripp said. “That’s a good team.”

Washington (7-5) advances to the semifinals of the eight-team, three-day tournament, where it will face a very strong Foothill team that beat Monte Vista Christian 73-29 in a first-round matchup. The game will be today at 7 p.m.

This will be the second time Washington faces Foothill in this non-league season. The first time Foothill claimed a 50-35 win over the Huskies in Pleasanton.

Just by looking at the boxscore Thursday, one can make an easy assumption as to why the Huskies got the win — Justin Montes. The senior point guard, who scored a team-high 15 points on five 3-pointers, hit a big 3 that tied the game at 39-39 with 1:51 left.

Montes had a well-balanced 3-point attack that included two 3’s in the first quarter and one each thereafter.

“When he gets into double figures, we win,” Tripp said.

Although things didn’t look all that good early on for the Huskies. Rodriguez’s players continually pounded the ball into the paint and converted nearly every time they touched the ball in the key.

The Mustangs scored 12 of their 19 first-half points in the paint. They took a 19-14 lead after a 6-0 run in which all six points came in the key.

Tripp went into the half and knew what his team needed to do to stop all the points in the paint.

“We play a traditional 3-2 defense,” Tripp said. “What we did was move (Mark) Songponnopachon down into the paint, and that took away a lane for them.”

It worked. As Rodriguez tried to get the ball inside, it was either denied, or Washington defenders were able to collapse quicker, denying easy layups.

Rodriguez falls into the consolation side of the bracket where it will face Monte Vista Christian today at 4 p.m.

San Lorenzo 65, American 51

FREMONT — The last time host American won the Tim Cole Memorial Tournament was 1989.

After suffering a first-round loss to San Lorenzo, the Eagles will have to wait at least another year to get back to the pinnacle of this tournament.

American battled behind Julian Harris’ 17 points, but it wasn’t enough in the end as the Rebels went on a 13-4 run in the fourth to put the game away.

The Eagles fall into the consolation side of the bracket and will play Serra today at 5:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, San Lorenzo will face Las Lomas in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m.

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